1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate or plating containing particulate metal elements dispersed therethrough and useful as structural elements for building facings, walls, ceilings and floors, doors, tables and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Structural elements comprising a carrier substrate and a thin metal sheet bonded thereto by means of an adhesive agent have been used for such purposes. Such composite plates are expensive and have disadvantages resulting from the differences in physical properties, such as different expansion coefficients, of the carrier material and the metal plating. Atmospheric conditions, including considerable temperature variations, cause internal stresses tending to damage or destroy such composite structural elements. Structural elements consisting of metal plates of the required gage are too expensive for building purposes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,150, it has been proposed to increase the wearability of a concrete floor by shaking a dry mix of cement, powdered ferrous metal and a corrosion inhibitor on a freshly laid concrete base. The resultant wear-resistant floor surface is not a self-supporting plate useful as a structural element and it is difficult or impossible to make reproducible, smooth and evenly structured surfaces in this manner which may be subsequently colored to desired hues.
Epoxy resin and/or cement binder compositions of various types and containing a wide variety of fillers, including metal powders, are also known.